The reward for helping police catch two men who killed a woman and sexually assaulted a co-worker at a Bethesda yoga shop climbed Monday as nervous shop workers said they were baffled that the crime could occur on a bustling Friday night without anyone noticing. Jayna Troxel Murray, 30, and her 27-year-old colleague were found tied up Saturday morning after a colleague opened the Lululemon Athletica women’s athletic clothing store along Bethesda Row. Murray was dead, and the other woman was severely injured. Both had been beaten and sexually assaulted.
Bethesda shop workers and business owners were rocked by the tragedy. A $136,000 reward has been offered for information that can help solve the mystery.
Shannon MacKeller, 25, who works directly across the street at the Blue Mercury, said she closed her skin care store shortly before the time the masked men entered Lululemon — shortly after 10 p.m., according to police.
“I don’t understand how this could happen. We feel so safe here,” MacKeller said. “I’m scared to come to work now.”
The night was like any other Friday night, police and witnesses said. The streets were crowded with people taking in the trendy restaurants, bars, ice cream parlors and movie theaters.
Directly next to Lululemon is the Apple Store, where a line of people waited outside Friday night for the release of the new iPad II, witnesses said.
Police Chief Thomas Manger would not confirm whether anyone at the Apple Store saw or heard the attack.
He said the assault started as a robbery and escalated out of control.
“We have no indication that this was anything but a random crime of opportunity,” Manger said.
Police on Monday released a more accurate timeline of the events, based in part on information from the surviving woman.
The two women closed the business at 9 p.m. Friday, set the store’s alarm at 9:45 p.m. and left the store.
One of the girls called the other to say that she left something back at the shop and asked for an escort back to the store, police said.
At 10:05 p.m., the women re-entered Lululemon and turned off the store’s alarm, according to police. That’s when the two men followed them in, robbing, then beating and sexually assaulting them, police said.
Around 8 a.m., Saturday morning, the store manager found the front door unlocked, and when she stepped inside she could tell that items in the store had been disturbed.
She heard a faint noise coming from the back of the store, and she called police.
| Claiming the reward |
| Businesses in Bethesda have banded together to raise the reward to $136,000 in the rape and slaying of Jayna Troxel Murray and the sexual assault of her co-worker. |
| The owners of Lululemon Athletica, the store where the women were attacked, is offering a $125,000 reward to go along with $10,000 from Federal Realty Bethesda. Crime Solvers is offering another $1,000. |
| Police are asking anyone who might have been in the area Friday night or Saturday morning and who may have seen something that may help the case to call 1-866-411-TIPS or 240-773-8477. Calls can remain anonymous. |
| Police said the two suspects were wearing gloves and masks and do not know their race. One was about 6 feet tall and the other was about 5-3. |
Murray was already dead, and the other woman was bound and injured. She was taken to an area hospital for treatment and was expected to be released Monday.
Manger said the surviving woman was “physically improving. … This is very traumatic for her.”
